Love Me As I Love You
by jennymira
Summary: Bella Swan became mute after a terrible accident. During the summer holidays, she worked as a maid at the Cullen mansion. Her life slowly changes when she met Edward. All Human
1. Chapter 1

Carlisle Cullen stared at the young lady sitting politely in front of him. His wife, Esme, did not stop smiling at her since she first arrived at their house. Bella shifted nervously in her seat, starting to feel awkward from the stare.

"Well, I think you are suitable to work here," Carlisle said after a long silence. "It's just that..."

"How is she going to communicate with others," Rosalie, Bella's adopted sister, guessed. She smiled warmly. "You don't have to worry. Unless you know sign language, Bella usually types in her words in her phone."

"I understand sign language," Esme said. "I used to work at a children's hospital where most of the patients are either deaf or mute. In some cases, both."

Bella looked down at her hands tangled on her lap. She furiously blinked away the tears that gathered in her eyes. Esme noticed this and quickly apologized.

"It's okay, Mrs Cullen. Consider this as a reminder. Bella doesn't want to think about the accident," Rosalie said.

After that, the four of them discussed about Bella's arrangement to work in the Cullen household. Bella is to work for five days—from Monday to Friday—and during that time she could stay at the big house. On weekends, she could only come in during the day and not at night, which meant she can return to her parents' house for two days. This agreement was valid for three months.

"When the summer vacation ended, Bella will return to Dartmouth and finish her studies," Rosalie concluded.

"I almost forgot to ask. You're in what year?" Carlisle asked.

"She'll be in her final year starting next semester," Rosalie answered on behalf of her sister.

"My, you're in the same year as Alice!" Esme said.

Bella's eyebrows furrowed. 'Who's Alice?' she signed to Esme.

"We have two children. The first one is Edward and the second one is Alice. She's a student at Dartmouth as well, a future doctor," Esme answered.

Bella nodded her head. Somehow, the name Alice Cullen rang somewhere inside her head. _Did I know her?_ she thought to herself.

After talking for five minutes, Bella excused herself to the toilet. Once she disappeared from the living room, Carlisle turned to Rosalie and said, "May I ask what happened to her that left her mute?"

Rosalie looked down for a moment, thinking of the easiest way to explain about the accident to the couple in front of her. "Two years ago, Bella went out to Port Angeles for a reunion with her friends from Forks High. On her way home, there's a drunk driver coming from the other way and swerved dangerously towards Bella. She swerved her car to avoid the drunkard's car. Unfortunately, she didn't see a truck park at the road side and she crashed into it. One of the sharp wires from the truck's back pierced through the skin of her neck and..." Rosalie couldn't finish. She couldn't imagine how horrible the image was.

Esme gasped and her hand automatically went to her chest where her heart was. "Oh my goodness, that's so terrible," she said sadly.

Rosalie continued. "When the doctor told her that she couldn't talk anymore, she was so upset that she cried for the whole day. The next day, she turned quiet. When I say quiet, I meant unresponsive. When our parents asked her if she wanted anything, she didn't reply. We've tried everything so that she could respond to us. But after a week, she was still the same. Only now she has improved slightly."

"How?" Carlisle asked.

"She ignored everyone around her for a few weeks after the accident. Now, she only talked to us if she needed anything. She rarely talked to us about how her day was like she used to."

"It's normal for someone who went through something as horrible as that to feel that way," Carlisle said, his doctor instincts started to kick in.

Rosalie nodded. "For now, our family lets her to live in her own world. We won't disturb her unless there's something important."

At that moment, Bella returned and sat down next to Rosalie. She noticed how Carlisle and Esme looked at her sympathetically. 'Is there something wrong?' she signed.

"No, nothing's wrong, dear," Esme said, smiling sweetly.

"So, I guess that's that," Rosalie said while standing up. "She can start on Monday, right?"

"Of course," Carlisle said. Him and Esme led Rosalie and Bella to the door. They said goodbye as the two girls entered Rosalie's BMW and left the house.

"You know," Esme said as the BMW disappeared around the corner. "I think I'm going to add another name to my list of potential daughter-in-laws."

Carlisle looked at her in amusement. "Again? You know that Edward don't like it if you do so."

"I know."


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm really sorry for not uploading so soon. There has been technical problems regarding the Internet connection. I wanted to update the next chapter since January 5th, but, like I said, technical problems. Anyway, enjoy the next chapter.**

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Bella took in a final look of her appearance in the mirror. She was wearing her blue blouse with a ribbon tied at the neckline of the blouse. She matched the blouse with a pair of slacks which she often wore when she went out with her friends. In fact, the slacks were her second favourite pair of trousers to be worn—the first being a pair of straight-cut jeans. She put on some powder on her face to make it look brighter and added a small tint of lip gloss on her pink full lips. Her long, straight brown hair was pulled into a simple ponytail.

She put on her black-and-white sneakers before going downstairs to get some breakfast. Her mother, Renee, had just put three slices of pancakes on a plate before giving to her father, Charlie, who's reading a newspaper at the dining table. Bella sat down across from Charlie and poured some cereal into a bowl before pouring in the milk. Charlie looked up from his newspaper and looked at Bella.

"Excited for your first day of work?" Charlie asked which Bella responded by nodding slowly. Bella was eating silently when Charlie folded the newspaper and stood up. "Gotta go. Everyone's waiting," he said as he walked towards Renee and kissed her cheek. He walked towards Bella and kissed the top of her head and said, "Have fun. And try to smile at least once."

Bella nodded and waved at Charlie which he waved back before leaving the house. Bella finished her cereal and helped Renee to clean the dishes besides her bowl. After finishing, she went upstairs to get her bag and returned downstairs to wait for her brother-in-law, Emmett to come and pick her up. She was about to take out _Wuthering Heights_ from her bag to read while waiting when she heard a familiar honk from a Jeep. She sighed before placing the book back inside her bag and went to find Renee doing the laundry. They shared a hug—Renee even gave her the same words from Charlie—and Bella exited the house before entering the Jeep.

She gave a small smile at Emmett right before he drove off to the Cullens' house. Once they've arrived, Emmett gave a big bear hug to his 'baby sister' as he liked to call Bella before she got off. Bella took in a deep breath before knocking the door. She faintly heard 'coming!' from the house and she smoothed her hair, making sure that it's not in a mess. When the door opened, Bella expected to see Esme's warm face smiling at her. Instead, a pixie-like girl about her age stared at her face to face.

"Oh my god! You must be Bella!" she said almost screaming. "Come on in!"

She grabbed Bella's hand and pulled her into the house. Esme came out from a room and smiled at Bella's confused face.

"I see you've met my daughter, Alice," she said softly.

Bella looked at Alice and thought that she truly looked familiar. Esme said she went to Dartmouth as well. Bella thought back at her campus, maybe she had caught a glimpse of Alice while walking around the campus grounds.

"As a start, did you mind cleaning one of the guest rooms?" Esme said, pointing at the ceiling. "A friend of mine came over and had stayed there for a week. We didn't have the time to clean it up since she left two days ago. Alice will show you where."

Before Bella could think, she was almost dragged upstairs by Alice. She entered the room, which according to Alice was right next to her brother, Edward's room, with Alice following behind her. _It's not so bad_, Bella thought when she saw how neat the room looked. Well, _almost_ neat. The bed was not made and there were cloths lying on the ground. The extra towels in a drawer of the cabinet located next to the bathroom door were in a slight mess.

"Mom had been busy with her book club activities and I was out with my friends so we had no one to clean up the room for us," Alice said, the words coming out of her mouth was quick. Bella had to reprocess what Alice had been saying. "Of course, Dad always comes home late at night and Edward—" she rolled her eyes as she said her brother's name. "—let's just say he rarely comes home."

Bella looked at Alice while picking up a handkerchief from the floor, her facial expression showed that she wanted to know what made Alice annoyed at the thought of her brother.

Alice, who was good at picking up emotions—a result from spending too much time with her boyfriend, Jasper—answered, "Edward is a doctor as well. He spends too much time working that he sometimes didn't have the time to answer his phone. Don't get me wrong, I know how busy a doctor can be, and New Hampshire was, like, across the country from here, but can't he just try to come home at least once a month? The last time he came home was during Christmas and that was almost six months ago."

Bella nodded understandingly at Alice's words. She was refolding the towels when Alice suddenly asked, "Do you have a boyfriend, Bella?"

Bella shook her head and looked at Alice. She hesitated for a moment before Alice said, "Don't worry, Bella. I understand sign language. Mom taught me a few years ago."

Bella was relieved when she heard Alice said so. Otherwise, she would come home with sore fingers from typing in her phone for almost the whole week. After she finished folding the towel, she placed it properly on the bed and explained, 'In high school, I had a boyfriend named Jacob. We didn't go to the same school yet we always meet at either his house or the beach at La Push. Our relationship was never based on love; it's just us being closer than ever. After my graduation, we had a long talk about long-distance relationship. At that time, we've decided to break up, but we're still friends. A few weeks before I left to Dartmouth, I heard that he's dating his childhood friend, Leah. So far, I think they're still going strong.'

Alice was quiet for a long time, starting from when Bella started 'talking' until now. She occasionally commented on where Bella should put the cloths before helping Bella to make the bed.

'Please. You don't have to do this. It's my job,' Bella signed.

Alice smiled warmly, reminding Bella of Esme. "It's okay. I'm bored actually. I've already finished all my assignments and now I don't have anything else to do," Alice said.

Bella didn't say anything else.

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That night, Bella felt like she couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned all over the bed in one of the guest's rooms, yet she still couldn't fall asleep. She got up and went downstairs to the kitchen, hoping to make a glass of warm milk. She always heard that drinking warm milk helped people to fall asleep so she decided to make one.

After warming the milk in a pot before pouring it into a glass, Bella sat down at the counter, her back facing the door leading to the living room, and sipped occasionally while thinking about how the day have gone.

Esme didn't make her do heavy things. Bella cooked lunch and dinner besides doing the laundry. She also swept the floor in the living room and plucked some red roses in the backyard garden. Either Esme or Alice occasionally helped her, not wanting to trouble her too much despite her pleas of letting her do everything all by herself. Of course, she's not being selfish. It's her job as a housekeeper, and she should not trouble her employer's family when doing everyday chores.

Bella was busy daydreaming that she didn't hear the front door opened and closed. It was when she heard a male voice saying 'Hello?' that she tensed.

_Oh, no. That doesn't sound like Carlisle. He's coming here, what should I do? What if he thinks I'm a thief?_ So many thoughts surrounded Bella's mind until she had no choice but to face him.

"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" a deep, velvety voice came from the kitchen door. Bella took a deep breath and stood up before turning around. She froze as she noticed how handsome he was.

He took a step closer to Bella and gave a menacing, cold glare. "I'll ask you again. Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Bella felt uncomfortable under his gaze. Not because it was threatening, but it made him look more…handsome. She was thinking of a proper way of answering the man's question when she heard Carlisle's voice from the kitchen door.

"Edward?"

Bella and the man—Edward—turned around, facing Carlisle who was standing at the doorway, looking tired and yawned before he stepped closer and gave a fatherly hug to Edward. "You didn't tell us you're coming home."

"I was planning to surprise everyone," Edward replied, his cold gaze still fixed on Bella. Bella awkwardly looked at the floor.

"I see that you've met our new housekeeper," Carlisle said. "Bella Swan."

"Swan?" Edward asked, looking surprised. "You mean, this is Chief Swan's daughter?"

Carlisle nodded and smiled as he saw Bella looking uncomfortable when her father's name was mentioned. "I heard voices and decided to head downstairs. Couldn't sleep, Bella?" Carlisle asked.

Bella shyly nodded, her eyes still fixed on the floor. Then Carlisle softly said to Bella, "If there's nothing else, you can go back to your room."

Bella nodded again, silently thanking Carlisle for rescuing her from being awkward around his only son. As Bella disappeared from the kitchen, Carlisle looked at Edward and said, "While you're here, don't be too hard on her. She's a bit…sensitive."

"Of course, Dad," Edward replied. Carlisle yawned again and excused himself back to his bedroom. Edward picked up his suitcase and walked upstairs to his room. He noticed the lights in the guest room next to his bedroom were on and he knew that Bella was staying there. He entered his room and put his bag on the floor next to his bed. He ran his hand through his hair before looking at the wall right beside his bed which separated his bedroom and Bella's.

"So Swan, we meet again."


	3. Chapter 3

After exiting the bathroom, Bella put on a green blouse and a pair of slacks. She combed her hair and tucked it behind her ears. A sudden thought involving Edward entered her mind and she quickly shook it away. She remembered what happened when she tucked her hair behind her ears which involved Edward and the rest of the popular jocks of Forks High. She immediately re-combed her hair until her hair was made into a curtain which covers her face from anyone to be seen from the side.

She went downstairs and walked to the kitchen while thinking about what to make for breakfast. She had just decided to make scrambled eggs and bacon when her steps halted as she saw a familiar figure sitting at the counter with a mug of coffee in his hands. She ignored him as she walked past and head to the refrigerator. She took out a carton containing eggs and some bacon before closing the door. She turned around to place the ingredients on the counter but she realized that Edward was already standing close—too close—behind her.

She gasped and the egg carton slipped out from her hand. Edward, always being the one with quick reflexes, grabbed the carton before it reached the floor. Bella was still frozen at her spot. She was confused, she didn't hear Edward stood up and walked towards her. But then she remembered that Edward was sneaky and can move quietly without you noticing him.

"You have to be careful, Miss Swan," Edward's low and husky voice brought Bella back to her senses. "Think of the mess you're going to clean up if this reaches the floor."

Bella breathed in deeply and snatched the egg carton from Edward's hand. She turned around without looking at Edward and decided to set the ingredients beside the sink. She found it impossible to ask for Edward to move so that she could put the eggs and bacon on the carton since...well, since she had lost her voice. She cracked four eggs into a bowl and mixed it. She put the bacon on a plate to defrost it—_when was the last time the Cullens had bacon for a meal,_ she thought. She bent down to the cabinet below the sink to look for a frying pan when she felt her backside touched Edward's legs. A sound resembling a low growl seemed to escape from Edward's mouth. She froze for a moment but, pretending as if nothing happened, she continued to search for the frying pan under the sink.

She could still feel Edward behind her as she closed the cabinet and walked to another one right next to the one she first looked at. When she found it, she started frying the eggs and bacon. She set the food in four plates, one for each Cullen. She was about to pick up the plates and put them on the dining table when she started to get annoyed with the fact that Edward still had not walked away from her. She turned around and glared at Edward with her arms crossed.

Edward chuckled as he saw Bella's expression. "What's the matter, Isabella? Does my presence bother you?" he asked with a smug smile forming on his mouth.

Bella rolled her eyes and nodded. Edward's face suddenly moved closer to hers. She was shocked and stood frozen to her spot again. Edward's lips were a mere centimetres from hers and she could feel his minty breath as he breathed. "Why didn't you ask me to leave? Is it so hard to do so?" he whispered, his voice low and sounded sexy.

Automatically, the accident replayed in her mind and she tried to push Edward away from her. Since he's stronger, he didn't even budge. Instead, he placed his arms around Bella's tiny waist and pulled her closer.

His eyes were on her as he said huskily, "Mmm, do you remember this, Isabella? How we stood this close and there was nobody around? You even had the same expression like that time, all confused and scared, yet you actually longed for this moment. And to think that we were so close to making out passionately when..."

The sound of someone clearing her throat made Edward and Bella to instinctively look at the kitchen doorway. Alice was standing there, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed and a quirky smile formed on her lips. Bella finally managed to push Edward away and turned to the sink to wash the frying pan and spatula she used to cook, completely ignoring Alice who was still staring at them.

"What are you two doing?" Alice asked with her voice a little bit higher.

"I'm helping Bella making breakfast," Edward answered. Bella didn't even look away from the sink.

"Of course you do," Alice said, obviously not buying Edward's answer. She started to walk away when she added, "Mum and Dad are coming down. You better make yourself look proper before they question you as well."

After Alice disappeared from the doorway, Edward turned again and looked at Bella who was ignoring him. "See you later," he said before leaning in and gave a quick kiss on Bella's cheek. He walked away, ignoring Bella's shocked look as she stared at him leaving the kitchen.

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Bella rearranged the flowers in the vase on the dining table before she sat down on the sofa to watch the television. She turned on the TV and settled on watching The Simpsons. But she wasn't actually watching the show. Her mind was at somewhere else.

It had been two weeks since she first came to work here. In just two weeks, she became friends with Alice, knowing each other better and sharing each other's secrets. In just two weeks, she became closer to Esme and the latter became Bella's second mother. In just two weeks, Edward had not stopped bothering her.

She admitted secretly that she remembered Edward from high school. Edward was a senior when she first entered Forks High as a freshman. Her nerdy appearance—big glasses, out-dated fashion sense and stacks of books in her hands—caught the eyes of the most popular basketball player of Forks High, Edward. Edward constantly teased and made fun of her throughout the semester. If that wasn't enough, even the other kids would laugh at her, and even worse, there are those who tortured her. All because she was Edward Cullen's favourite toy.

But if there was nobody around, like when Bella was taking out some of her books from her locker, Edward would crept behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He would still tease her even when they were in that position. He occasionally pretended to lean in to kiss Bella but Bella would push him away besides throwing out a nasty comment. He would laugh and pushed her away, saying the same words every time he teased her like that. "Don't flatter yourself too much, Isabella. You're definitely not my type."

Those words wounded Bella. Why? Because she couldn't prevent herself from falling in love with Edward. Somehow Edward's jerk-ish behaviour...excited her. _Excited_ would definitely not be the right word. Bella knew the right word; she's too embarrassed to admit it. Every night Edward Cullen haunted her dreams, doing nasty things on her. as much as it turned her on, she never..._pleasured_ herself. In fact, even though she's turning 22 this year, she's still a virgin. She's not ready for sex, she even told Jacob once that the man that would take her virginity away would only be her husband.

Bella had always thought of transferring school, but then she thought of the trouble she might have brought to her parents and Jacob. She kept her feelings and troubles to herself and, so far, neither her parents nor Jacob knew of what she had been through not only in her freshman year, but throughout her entire time at high school. Even though Edward had left high school, the other students of Forks High loved to _torture_ her. They still had the time to humiliate her at the graduation party held at Jessica Stanley's house.

A knock on the front door brought Bella back to reality. She stood up and went to answer it. She was shocked to see Mike Newton standing right in front of her.

"So, I was right," he said. "Isabella Swan is in town and working at the Cullens' house."

Bella remembered him. All those years of being harassed at high school and at the graduation party. She could still hear his voice telling the other people at the party to start throwing eggs at her direction.

"Can I come in?" he asked, already taking a step closer towards her.

Bella shook her head. The house was definitely not hers, so she did not have the right to let anyone in unless they have a business with the Cullens. But not a single Cullen was in the house at that moment.

Mike took another step and Bella could smell alcohol from him. _He's clearly drunk_, she thought. Suddenly, Mike slammed the door open and glared at Bella.

"I said, can I come in, bitch?!" he shouted, terrifying Bella. She tried to run but Mike picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He threw her on the couch and was fumbling to unbuckle his belt. Bella used this moment to run once again and she managed to do so, but only after a few steps she was pulled and thrown onto the coffee table.

Bella grabbed a vase on the table and tried to smash Mike's head with it. Unfortunately, she missed as the vase hit his bicep. However, the impact caused him to release his hold on Bella and she once again used this opportunity to run away. She was thinking to run to the telephone and tried to call the police. But before she could dial 911, she was pulled and thrown onto the floor.

"Do you think you can run from me, you stupid bitch?" he asked menacingly. He grabbed both of Bella's wrists and pinned them above her head. She struggled to release herself from him. He was getting tired of her squirming that he slapped her hard across her face. Before everything turned black, the first person to enter her thoughts was Edward. She silently called for Edward to come and help her.

_Edward..._


End file.
